The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1887-02-03

git at the Helper up yender ez never
fails. IT dom seem ez Of ye need me,
but seems ye want it, I gin ye my
promise ter dew all I ken fur ye, eff
tits Benjamin's boy, an here's my ham
ont
""Thank We. Amos says she. Now
my minis at ease. The facts o. the
case is this: His mothers folks dom
want nothin' ter dew with him. They
packed him off with mos ondecent
haste, never givin' me no time ter say
whuther I'd take him or not. So the
leetle boy-why, I dom even know his
name, Amos-he'n be here ter-morrer,
an there's scant time ter git the
trundle-bed an t'other ixin's down out
o. the garrett an lookin' up sudden, I
ketched her tryin' ter hide a smile.
"''Pon my word says I ter Marthy
Ann, she's ez tickled over t ez the
mex unr
II went down the lot an begun ter
NOW, but my head was in such a muckle,
with them Western folks a-shiftin' all
the Expense an 'sponsibil'ty on Miss
Hester, tibet I he'd a purity tough days
work ont.
II wus afeard ez 'twud plague Miss
Hester if I wuzn't roun' when the lee
tie Teller come, so mex day, when the
stage hauled up ter u door, theer I
wuz, but not in pertick'ler welcomin'
He wuz all alone, fur the man
which bringed him on from Dakoty had
gin him in charge O. our stage-driver,
an then lef' him. He steps out like a
leetle man, an looks bout him fur a
minnit, an nobody spoke a word. Then
he goes up ter Miss Hester. an winkin'
back the tears ez spunky ez could be-
"'Aunt Hetty,' says he, I'm Benjie.
Papa sent me ter We with his bes' love,
an he toll me ter tell ye ez he wuz very
"Miss Hester melted at the fust
words. fur .Hetty' wuz Benjamin's
pet name fur her fore ever the on
commenced, an she folded
her arms roun' tibet leetle Teller, an
kissed him agin an agin.
Then says he ter her, Aunt Hetty,
is that AmosP' an he shakes hans
with me ez grave ez a jedge. Then,
hevin' done up all his business brown,
the tears come a-streamin' down his
cheeks, an Miss Hester she jes' geth-
cred him up in her arms, an kerried
him into her bedroom, fur he wusn't
five-year old, an very small &C.
cordin', tew.
"Wall, tibet leetle Benjie crawled
right inter the snuggest corner O. our
hearts. Ter hev him roun' when I wuz
a-doin' of the chores, arstin' his hun
bred an one questions, half O. which
no mortal cd answer, let alone me,
hinderin' me ways innoomerable, with
every leetle finger a fish-hook, an yet
the bigges' kim O. help-'twuz a stiddy
pleasure. An when Miss Hester an
me sot in meetin', with Benjie a-tween
us, twuz heavenly ter see the satisfaction
on her face; done me ez much good ez
the preachin'.
"Wall, the years went on, an Benjie
growed with 'em, a regular comfort ter
both on US. 1 dom purten' ter say ez
he never done no wrong; but take him
all in all, he wuz bout ez lovin' m
obejient ez a1y wide-awake boy could
be. An, truthful! He didn't git that
from his father! dew believe, though
I don't bear Benjamin no grudge, tibet
he lied straight long, jes' cause he'd
ruther'n not
"'Thank the Lord!' / used ter say tel
Miss Hester; 'ez long ez Benjie ain
dominated with lynn lips, I'll resi-
him!'
"But theer wuz one thin bout Ben
jie ez gin me some o~neasiness. He
wuz so NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. with every
body that 1 trembled ter think what
comp'ny he might consort with when
he'd outgrowed Miss Hester m me, ful
we didn't consait as he'd alters KEEP
sech a contented home-boy.
"One day, Miss Hester m me he'd
talk bout his futur" He'd larned al
he could with us, an Miss Hester wus
anxious ez Benjie sh'd go to college
but, thanks ter Benjamin, she hedn'
got any greet amount O. coin lynn roun
loose ter sem him with. But we greed
ez we could haul in here an theer, an
some way or 'nuther stub through
Miss Hester n me didn't gree on on,
PINT, though. l went in fur telling
Benjie ez how 'twuz only by the ski
o. her teeth his aunt 'ud be able te
keep thin's runnin'; but she says: No
let him go with a min easy an com
fort'ble, or not at all. So off he went
free-and-easy-minded, though twu.
clear ter me ez he went more ter pleas
his aunt than hisself.
"Fust long, every thin's moved o.
well; but, after a while, I begun tie
hev forebodin's. 1 can't say what mad
'em start in on me, an tried and triet
to poh 'em off. His letters come reg
lar ez ever, an Miss Hester she didn'
seem ter see no difference. But
'peared ter me ez he said less an les
| bout his studies, an wuz all the tim
a-harpin' on his chum, which he wri
wuz a reg'lar king 'mongst 'em, b
reason o. his heaps o money an fur
He 'peared ter call on purity frequen
fur money, tew.
81 can't no ways imagine, wri
Benjie, why Richard Cross hez choo.
ed me out O. the hull lot fur his pei
tick'ler friend, but it's a greet compl
ment, Aunt Hetty, We may b'lieve
She was pleased ter hev her boy 'prec
ated, but 1 KEEP mum, an turned
every which way in my min.' By tn.
time, Benji'ed go bout half-throug
college, with money handed out fc
him ez free ez eff the bushes down bac
pastur' growed silver dollars std
huckleberries. 81 felt ez eff 'twu
oniust ter the boy ter hide all th
skimpin's from him an hev Miss He
ter bear it unbeknownst ter hin
'Twuzn't nat'ral fur a young thii
like him ter be economic, when
didn't know ez theer wuz any nee
ont. l felt eff he once got hol'
what his aunt wuz a-doin' fur hin
he'd come up ter the mark like a ma